


Silent Night

by The_Epitome_of_Pretense



Series: The Yuletide Nick Fic Challenge [7]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Guilt, Kissing, Pillow Talk, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21874936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Epitome_of_Pretense/pseuds/The_Epitome_of_Pretense
Summary: Nick still hasn't recovered from the Kellogg episode.
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Female Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor & Nick Valentine, Sole Survivor/Nick Valentine
Series: The Yuletide Nick Fic Challenge [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575460
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	Silent Night

The bedroom at Sole’s house in Sanctuary was dark. Nick had spent hours trying to read, but only succeeded in skimming the pages. Eventually he gave up and turned off the lamp, resolving instead to try slipping into the restful state that was as close as he could come to sleep. Even that had failed. He stared at the dark room instead. He could see the distant glow of the stars peeping through the shutters, but little else. Crickets chirped outside; some even chirped inside. But Sole was quiet. 

She was just asleep, he told himself. There was no need to worry. Even so, he placed a hand on her side until he felt the gentle rise and fall of her breath. His desire to wake her up warred with the fact that she needed rest. He sighed and sank back into his pillow. No matter what he tried, he couldn't relax. It would be easier if he hadn’t nearly lost her. 

It would be easier if it hadn’t been his fault. 

He knew something was wrong before they even left the Memory Den. Fooling around with Kellogg’s gray matter had left a mark, but he thought he could handle it. Those flutters of foreign thought, the memories that weren’t his, the fleeting moments when he wasn’t sure who he was--he tried to brush them off as side effects of having his mind probed. He should have known better.

Now he saw her fearful eyes every time he blinked. He saw her struggling for breath, saw his hand clamped tight over her throat. In the dark, there was no escaping it. The vision put a hitch in his breathing, made him sick down to his core. 

He couldn’t stand it anymore. He put a hand to her shoulder and jostled her awake. 

“Mmm…” she shifted onto her back. 

“Sorry to wake you.”

“‘T’s okay…” she mumbled. “You good?”

“I--uh,” embarrassment overcame him. He was too old to be this childish. 

She shifted again. Her voice grew stronger, more awake. 

“Something the matter?” She said. 

“I… I think I just needed to hear your voice again.”

“Oh, sugar. You poor thing, come here.”

She took his hand and laid it on her chest. If he concentrated, he could feel her heartbeat. 

“I’m here,” she said. “I’m with you.”

He sighed and tried again to relax. The visions left him alone, but the fear lingered. Part of him couldn’t believe that she really was there, despite having the proof pulsing just inches below his fingertips. She was there, he told himself. She was safe. 

Yet the fear still gnawed at him. 

“Doll…?”

“Hmm?”

He was ashamed to ask. But he knew he wouldn’t find any peace until he did. 

“Would you mind doing something for me?”

“Anything,” she said.

He let out a breath. 

“Talk with me a little while longer. I’m having a pretty rough night.”

“I should say so.” She pulled him closer, weaving her legs with his, and cradled his head in her arms. 

“I just can’t stop thinking about our wedding night,” he said, “about what happened—”

“Hey, none of that,” she said. “Kellogg lost. We both made it out alive, and that’s what matters. Now think of something else.”

He struggled to sort through his memories of that day. The worst ones had a habit of bubbling to the forefront of his mind. 

“Well… I never thought I’d be so glad to be hit by a pulse grenade,” he said. 

“Ugh, that’s the one you go with? It made me sick to lob that thing at you. I thought it would do you in.”

“Let me pick a different one, then,” he said, already beginning to forget his worries. “Uh… How about when you wrestled me to the ground? That was pretty impressive.”

“It was, wasn’t it?” 

“Mm-hm. Though I doubt you could do it again.”

“Oh really.” She rolled on top of him and pinned his wrists to the bed. “Alright synth. You’re not going anywhere until I’ve gotten what I’m looking for.”

He smiled, though he doubted she could see it in the gloom. 

“You ain’t getting anything out of me,” he said. “I’ll never talk.”

“We’ll see about that.”

She leaned down and kissed him, starting with his lips, then moving to his cheek, then his jaw, then his neck just shy of his ear. She paused to yawn. He seized the opportunity to free his hands; he wrapped his arms over her back and clamped her to him. She gave a half-hearted struggle, then melted into his embrace. She yawned again. 

“This brings back memories,” she mumbled. 

“Of what?”

“Dr. Amari’s office. When you held me like this because you were ‘cold.’”

“Hey, I was cold.”

“Right. I’m sure that was your only motivation.”

“Well…” he traced a hand along her spine. “Maybe not the only one, if I’m honest.”

“I knew it.” she stretched and adjusted her position, sending a thrill through his circuits with every move. “Just out of curiosity, how many times did you go out of your way to touch me?”

“Oh, all the time.”

“Well!”

“Though I convinced myself that each time was strictly necessary. And don’t act like you’re so innocent. If memory serves correct, you’re the one who threw yourself at me down in Amari’s place. I just kept you there.”

“A lady would never,” she huffed. 

“Uh-huh.” He nestled his face into her hair. “We’re both making up for lost time, if you ask me.”

“Mmm…”

He got the feeling she meant to say more, but another yawn cut her short. It didn’t bother him. With her laying on his chest, he could feel her warmth, her breath, her heartbeat—every proof that she was alive—all at once. For the first time in a week, he felt calm.

He felt peace. 

He let his eyes fall closed.


End file.
